Egypt's southeast is currently facing the spectre of a major locust
infestation following recent heavy rainfall and the start of a new breeding
season, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned last week.

On Sunday, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported that vast numbers of
locusts had appeared in several areas of Upper Egypt, where they threatened
the wellbeing of local crops.

According to the FAO, the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture last month
managed to clear roughly 11,000 hectares of land of locusts with the use of
pesticides.

Yet despite these efforts, locust numbers increased significantly in
January, especially along the Red Sea coast between Egypt and Sudan, the FAO
has reported.

In 2004, Egypt witnessed one of the most serious locust plagues in recent
history, when farmers in 15 out of the country's 27 governorates reported
infestations and extensive crop damage.

At the time, the Land Centre for Human Rights, a local NGO devoted to
agriculture issues, reported that 38 per cent of the nation's crops had been
damaged as a result of the phenomenon.